Veerabhadrasana 3

Veerabhadrasana 3

Warrior Pose 3

The warrior 3 position develops the strength and shape of your legs and abdomen; it also gives you agility, poise, better concentration, and improved balance. It is a more difficult pose than the first two warrior poses. Be sure to exhale going into all the warrior poses, and inhale coming out.

Procedure:

1. Stand straight. 2. Raise both arms overhead, perpendicular to the floor. Your palms should be facing each other. 3. Move your left foot backward. Slightly lean forward, keeping your back straight and your arms stretched overhead. Your left foot, back, and arms should form a diagonal line. 4. Lift your left foot and straighten your right leg simultaneously, keeping your arms parallel to the floor. At this point, your raised leg, upper body and arms should be parallel to the floor. Give length to the entire spine by stretching your arms and your legs. This results in stretching from two sides of the back: stretching from the legs and from the arms. Keep on breathing through the belly and be careful not to bend your lower back. 5.How long can you hold this pose? This balance pose is challenging both because you have to balance on one leg and because it takes strength to keep your arms and other leg lifted. Work on extending the amount of time you can hold this pose, for a super-powered, strength-building, balancehoning workout. Watch your breath! As the breath comes into balance, so do the balance poses. Don't hold your breath. Keep breathing, slowly and steadily.

Benefits:

1. Both legs are strengthened in this pose. The hamstrings (the biceps femoris, semitendinosus and the semimembranosus) are stretched in the supporting leg and strengthened in the raised leg. The gluteal muscles are stretched on on leg and strengthened on the other. This causes them to be raised on one side. 2. Some leg adductors are involved in the inward rotation of the hip. these are , the pectineus, adductor brevis and adductor longus, the gracilis and adductor magnus. shoulders are stretched and the arms are strengthened. 3. This is a powerful Standing Pose which helps increase stamina and improve strength in the legs and ankles. As with all other poses, make sure to perform it correctly to achieve optimum results. You can ask your Yoga instructor for assistance so he or she will be able to tell you how to do it the right way.